Browse Data and Analysis

FAS/Seoul forecasts 2025 Korean cattle production and slaughter will drop to 951,000 head and 1,078,000 head respectively. FAS/Seoul forecasts 2025 beef imports to dip to 574,000 metric tons (MT).

Korean imports of cheese products continue to grow, seeing a five percent compound annual growth rate over the last five years. Mozzarella is the most imported cheese product and the United States is the leading supplier of cheese to Korea.

FAS/Seoul forecasts Korea’s 2025 milk production to decrease to 1.92 million tons. Korean milk production continues to decline in line with industry contraction and demographic-driven consumption declines.

EU milk production in 2025 is forecast to decline marginally to 149.4 million metric tons (MMT), from an estimated 149.6 MMT in 2024, as a result of declining cow numbers, tight dairy farmer margins, environmental regulations, and disease outbreaks.

Both EU beef and pork production, as well as exports, are forecast to temporarily increase this year. Beef production will increase because of high carcass and beef prices combined with an overall dim outlook for the sector, incentivizing farmers to slaughter their cattle.

Driven by strong internal demand, EU chicken meat production is expected to continue growing in 2024 and 2025. In 2025, Poland will remain the largest EU chicken meat producer, accounting for more than 22 percent of total EU production.

Chicken production in South Korea will continue its gradual growth trend through 2024 and into 2025, as poultry inventories recover from productivity challenges in 2023 and fend off a 2024 outbreak of HPAI.

On August 21, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) of the People's Republic of China (PRC) announced that it had initiated an anti-subsidy (i.e., countervailing duty or CVD) investigation on imports of certain dairy products originating from the European Union.

On July 1, 2024, the United States and Republic of Korea agreed to the labeling requirements outlined in this report regarding storage state for U.S. red meat and poultry products and U.S. processed red meat, poultry, egg, and dairy products.

On December 7, 2023, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a new Regulation on the protection of animals during transport to replace Council Regulation (EC) No 1/2005.

EU milk production in 2024 is forecast to fall slightly to 148.9 million metric tons (MMT), from an estimated 149.3 MMT in 2023 as a result of declining cow numbers and lower milk production profitability. With lower milk production, which will only be partially offset by lower expected fluid milk consumption, factory use consumption is also forecast to minimally decrease in 2024.

The 2023 U.S. Agricultural Export Yearbook provides a statistical summary of U.S. agricultural commodity exports to the world during the 2023 calendar year.